World War II Chronicle: March 27, 1942
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On today’s front page: Former Notre Dame “Four Horseman” Jimmy Crowley is pictured on the front page doing calisthenics for the Navy. Last year his Fordham Rams were 8-1 and defeated Missouri in the Sugar Bowl. This season he will coach the North Carolina Pre-Flight Cloudbuster squad… Also on the front page is Joe Louis and Abe Simon during weigh-ins for tonight’s fight at Madison Square Garden. Simon outweighs the champ by nearly 50 lbs…
German heavyweight Max Schmeling defeated Joe Louis in 1936, making him — so far — the only boxer to defeat the Brown Bomber. The front page reports that Schmeling’s former sparring partner, Heinrich “Heinz” Kohlhaas is currently under investigation by the FBI. Kohlhaas competed for Germany in the 1932 Olympics and stayed in the United States to try to make boxing a career. He ended up becoming a longshoreman, but apparently the investigation didn’t turn up much because Kohlhaas joins the U.S. Navy in 1944 and serves in the Caribbean… Page two mentions that a special desert army is being established for Maj. Gen. George Patton. British veterans of North Africa are searching for suitable locations in the American Southwest for a training ground. Patton and his team decide on an 10,000-acre area southeast of Palm Springs, California that becomes known as the Desert Training Center — the largest training area in the world. Patton had recently been named commander of the I Armored Corps.
Pictured on page three is the brand-new M4 medium tank, which just began production in February. Nearly 50,000 of these versatile tanks are built, making the Sherman the most-produced tank in U.S. history… On page five Flight Lieutenant Arthur Gerald “Texas Shorty” Donahue has earned a Distinguished Flying Cross while flying for the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. The Minnesota native earned his pilots license at 19 years old and when the Army Air Corps rejected him (they required a college degree), he managed to convince RAF authorities that he was Canadian, and he began flight training. Donahue was one of a handful of Americans that fought in the Battle of Britain, and he has just earned a Distinguished Flying Cross. Donahue,the first American pilot to lead an all-British squadron, will perish on Sept. 11, 1942 during a dogfight with a German Ju-88…
Pres. Roosevelt has nominated Brig. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower for promotion to major general (see page nine). Eisenhower was just a lieutenant colonel in March 1941… On page ten, Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker visits his old unit, the 94th “Hat in the Ring” Pursuit Squadron at Long Beach, Calif… Sports section begins on page 54.
Evening star. (Washington, D.C.), 27 March 1942. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1942-03-27/ed-1/